


a night in.

by alfie_aurel



Category: DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, god this is 2k of just pure fluff, making your partner tea is a love language, rated t for slight innuendo and kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfie_aurel/pseuds/alfie_aurel
Summary: A conversation late at night, over cups of tea.[aka: Tim is exhausted. Conner takes care of him.]
Relationships: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Comments: 13
Kudos: 121





	a night in.

**Author's Note:**

> i have read barely any comics but i had this idea and my brain said Do It.
> 
> [also i'm fairly sure that i'm stealing the idea that conner's nickname for tim is 'sunshine' from somewhere so. sorry?]
> 
> [and i also saw the headcanon that conner would study psychology, which i adore, so that's what i reference.]

It was late at night, so late the sun was almost rising, and the rain beat down on the windows. Lightning flashed, and the noise of sirens drifted up from the streets below like a sordid lullaby. Tim opened the window from the outside and climbed through, locking it behind him. Once safely inside, Tim arched his sore back, stretching it out. He hissed slightly, feeling his spine click. 

In the bed across from the window, Conner stirred, rubbing a hand against his eyes. "Tim?" He asked sleepily, voice slurred. 

Tim stopped stretching, and began to walk across the room, their room, towards a chest of drawers, taking off his cowl and unbuckling his belt as he went. "Sorry I'm late. Both Firefly and Riddler escaped tonight, and Damian's away on a school trip, so -" 

Conner interrupted him. "Shush. You talk too much," he said. He rolled over to spread across the bed, right hand wrapping around a pillow. (Tim's pillow. Dirty bed-stealer.)

"If you say so, Kon." Tim laughed under his breath. He continued to take his armour off and stow it in the drawer, methodically cleaning and drying the kevlar despite the shake in his hands. Some part of his brain idly wondered if it was from the biting chill of Gotham by night, or the energy drinks, or the constant, constant anxiety. "Damnit," he said, inspecting his chestplate. "There's a scratch on this."

"Sort it out tomorrow?" Came Conner's voice from the bed, half-muffled by the pillow. 

Tim reached for the cleaning cloth. "I could -"

He heard the rustle of blankets, and footsteps padding behind him, before Conner's arms hugged him from behind. Almost automatically, Tim entwined his hands with his. They still shook.

"Sunshine, it's late. Come to bed." Conner rested his face on his partner's shoulder. Tim leant back into Kon's warmth, eyes momentarily closing. This wasn't a battle he would win.

"Ok." Tim said, voice hushed. Conner held him a little tighter. "Ok, yeah. I'll sleep. Just let me shower first?" Conner nodded, kissing him softly on the cheek, before returning to bed. Tim resumed putting his costume away, leaving the damaged section out to deal with in the morning.

After his shower, Tim walked out of the bathroom, toweling dry his still-wet hair. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a pair of shorts, pulling them on. His hands shook slightly, and the ache in his back was still there. Conner seemed to be asleep, so Tim sat on the edge of their bed, head in his hands. What Tim would give to fall asleep as easily as the Kryptonian. 

If you had told him five years ago that he would still be here, that he would still be welcome in Gotham, that he would be sharing a flat (and hopefully soon, a surname) with the man of his dreams, he wouldn't have believed you. Honestly, he might have laughed at you. Tim wasn't proud of the boy he'd been back then, but - he understood him. That's obvious; of course he understood him, he was him, the scars on his arms and the ache in his bones reminded him of that daily. However, Tim didn't know what he would have done differently. He regrets and doesn't regret pushing everyone away, he regrets and doesn't regret leaving Gotham behind. His choices half a decade ago led to the life he has now, and he can't imagine not having this. Not having Conner. 

Lost in his thoughts, Tim did not hear Conner getting out of bed once more, nor him walking around to kneel in front of him. His hands cupped Tim's cheeks; his face was smiling, almost too bright and too kind to bear. Tim pushed away Conner's hand, instead holding theirs together in his lap. He did not meet Conner's eyes. 

The concern was evident in Conner's voice when he spoke. "What's the matter, Tim?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." He didn't have to look at Conner's face to know the look of disbelief on it. "Really," Tim continued, still intently studying the floor. "Just a bit tired." 

Conner tightened his grip on Tim's hands. The pressure was grounding, a familiar and welcome weight. "Did you take your meds?" 

Tim shrugged, removing his hands from Conner's to gesture. "Probably. Probably not. I don't remember."

"I'll go check." Conner said, rising from his crouching position and, after a moment of consideration, bending down to kiss Tim on the forehead. He walked out of the bedroom door in the direction of the kitchen. Tim kept his pills in there, in a weekly organiser Steph had got him as a gag gift - "gotta remember to do self-care, boy wonder." 

The logical side of Tim's brain was still processing the events of the night: how had Riddler escaped, how had he known to meet up with Firefly at that specific place and time, did they mean their escape to coincide with when Robin was out of town - if they had, was Batman's secret identity compromised, and what disastrous consequences would that have. Endless infinites of circling questions. Tim shook his head. He could think about that in the morning. Right now, he didn't want to be alone.

If there's one thing Bruce's training came in handy for, it was moving stealthily. So, Tim followed his boyfriend's path to the kitchen, sticking to the edges of the floorboards. He leant against the doorframe of the kitchen. Kon had turned on the light, illuminating the matte white surfaces this flat had come pre-installed with. He kept talking about how he was going to change them, but hadn't quite got around to it yet. The light also let Tim see Conner waiting by the kettle - his black curls messy from sleep, his shirt tucked up over one hip. Only he would manage to look that stunning after just waking up. Seriously, the difference in the bathroom mirror every morning between Tim's bedhead and Conner's casually tousled locks was astounding. (In retrospect, Tim was very biased.) Two mugs were placed on the counter, the pill organiser beside it. The kettle whistled.

As he turned to fill the mugs, Conner saw Tim, his face immediately breaking into a smile. "Hey, you." He said quietly, putting down the kettle and walking over to Tim in the doorway. When he reached him, he tucked an arm round Tim's waist. "Come here often?"

Tim buried his face in Conner's chest, grinning slightly. Terrible and corny as they were, Conner's pick-up lines never failed to make him blush. "Can't say I do." At that Conner huffed a laugh, smiling into Tim's hair. He stepped away from Tim, holding out a hand. "Come on. I made tea. Chamomile's good, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Chamomile's fine." Tim let himself be led to the counter, carefully sitting down on a stool as Conner poured hot water into the mugs. The clock on the oven changed to 4:00. Tim suddenly realised how tired he was, his vision becoming slightly hazy at the edges. 

Once Conner had put the kettle back, he sat next to Tim, warming his hands on his mug. Tim didn't trust himself not to spill the tea. 

"You hadn't taken your meds, by the way." Conner said, nudging the pill box towards him. He rested his head on his hand, looking across at Tim. 

"Sure." Tim picked out his meds, gulping them down with a sip of his tea. He immediately recoiled - "Shit, that's boiling!”

Conner laughed, so hard his head slipped off his hand and banged on the counter-top. He lay there for a second. "Ow."

"Shut up, that didn't even hurt you." Tim gestured with the hand still holding the cup, causing some of the tea to spill out onto his arm. "Fuck, ow -" He put the cup down. "My burnt throat on the other hand -"

"Oh yes, poor you." Conner pouted his lips in mock pity, his face squashed against the counter. "I think I'm just gonna lay here for a while. It's comfy."

Tim leant back on his chair, shaking his lightly torched wrist. "Mm. I'm sure."

Conner chuckled. A moment passed, Tim returning to sip at his still-steamy tea, before Kon's face turned back to look at Tim. "Seriously though, are you doing alright?"

Tim took a moment to think, blowing some steam away from his tea."I'm as fine as I will be. My hands are very uncooperative today. Nearly dropped my bo at one point." Tim lifted a hand up, watching it shake. "Bruce was not impressed, to say the least." He attempted a wry smile. 

Conner's face turned serious, looking up at Tim from his position on the counter. "He's probably just concerned, Tim." He reached out, lightly touching Tim's wrist. Tim put down his mug in favour of holding Conner's hand, letting them swing between them like they were teenagers on a date. 

After a moment, Conner sighed. "Come on, let's get you to bed." He stood up, letting go of Tim's hand and collecting their cups, putting them in the sink. He turned back to Tim, offering his arm. "Do you need -"

"Contrary to popular belief, I can take care of myself." Tim interrupted, pushing himself off the stool. Despite this, he immediately walked over to Conner, leaning against him. 

"I know." Conner smiled, worming his arm around Tim's waist. "Are you going to work tomorrow?"

Tim began leading them back to the bedroom. "For a bit. Tam said she'd shoot me if I was in before lunch, so I'll work on case files in the morning. Remind me to check if Riddler -"

Conner raised an eyebrow. "I'm fairly certain Tam'll shoot you if she finds out you were doing Bat-work in the morning as well. Give yourself a break." He stopped walking. "You know what, I think I'm caught up on psych work too. So..."

Tim found himself crowded against the wall of the corridor, Conner's face so close their noses could touch. He smirked, pulling him closer. "So?"

"So, we could have the morning to ourselves." Conner whispered, his hands steadily moving lower from Tim's waist, encouraging Tim's legs to wrap around his hips. Tim let himself be picked up, loosely looping his arms around Conner's head. Conner dipped down, pressing a sweet kiss to Tim's collarbone. "What do you say, boy wonder?" 

Tim rested his head against the wall as Conner continued kissing his shoulders, thinking. Bruce would probably have the Riddler case covered, and Tim was due a day off. Eh, fuck it. "You know what," he said, tilting Conner's face up. "I probably can take the entire day off. I don't think I have any productive meetings tomorrow."

Before he could finish the sentence, Conner surged upwards, kissing Tim so hard it pushed him up the wall. Fuck, Conner was a good kisser. Tim's fists clenched at the back of Conner's shirt, the pressure of Conner's lips against his perfectly overwhelming. 

However, Tim was still tired. He broke off the kiss, one of his hands grasping Conner's chin. "Hey, hey - what happened to 'in the morning'? We won't have a morning if you continue."

Conner sighed, head falling to rest at Tim's collarbone. "True, true." He looked back up, voice taking on a familiar, teasing tone. "You always were the clever one."

Tim extracted his legs from Conner's waist, standing on his own feet again. "Keep me around for my brain, do you?" He said, tracing a line up the side of Conner's face and gently twirling a curl around his finger. 

Conner smiled, leaning into Tim's touch. "In my defense, you are incredibly hot when you're being smart."

Laughing, Tim started to make his way to the bedroom. "If you say so."

Conner came up behind him and took his hand, raising it to his lips. "I do!" 

"God, you romantic asshole -" Conner smirked. "Shut it."

Tim entered their bedroom, and collapsed into bed. Conner followed him, tangling his legs with Tim's and resting his head on his collarbone. Tim waited until Conner's breathing had evened out to press a kiss into his hair. "Thank you, for tonight. I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!! it'd mean the world to me if you left a kudos or comment!! <3 hope you have a nice day/night/timezone, come find me @melanie-king on tumblr if you wanna!


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